Issue 4: Echoes
we didn’t vote for mr. wolf
Sophie Crocker
in this house, our civil
disobedience is civility. since we watch
the news, we burn down
the newspapers in the fireplace.
we looted the grocery store
then paid full price;
this soup really is for our family.
we display our molotovs as centerpieces.
from our slingshots we serve sugar cubes,
then sit-in on the gold blockade couch.
not a one out of place, not a one in rubble,
we build our homes from bricks.
we have no other use for them.
none of us are free until all of us are as free as the cast of jackass
Sophie Crocker
i.
hi i’m johnny knoxville & this is jackass. what goes up
comes down tougher! FUCKKKK this is gonna hurt. but i must
defend the human right to boyhood.
ii.
hi i’m steve-o & this is the confession. almost offed myself
to prove that no one loved me,
but they did. do you even understand
how much to be loved is to be free. do you even requite
the love of gravity. fuck it, girlhood too. the sacred rite. my flesh—
its ink—a palimpsest of light.
iii.
i’m bam margera. in a cannon painted red
& white & blue. that’s why they call it the land
of the free: cuz i’m gonna stick the landing. cuz
for a second i won’t be here. i’ll be in flight.
iv.
what’s up! i’m ryan dunn & this is the bank burning. this is the one
where we kill our false gods & find our families somewhere warm
to live. this is the one where the boys DIY beer so we don’t rely
on the liquor industry. this is jackass 5: class solidarity. jackass 6:
none of us left behind. jackass 7: whatever you need it to be.
v.
i’m chris pontius!!! got rid of the thong that sucks & replaced it
with the thong that rocks. today no thong & my cock
is dressed as cthulhu. we’re putting him
in the cock flattener. got bunny ears & a floral bra. got a long
lifeline despite the odds. did i already mention the thong?
dressing up i always belong. it doesn’t matter if we live
forever. we’re gonna live forever.
Sophie Crocker is an MFA candidate at the University of British Columbia. Her previous publications include Best Canadian Poetry, The Adroit Journal, The Ex-Puritan, The Fiddlehead, and elsewhere. Find her on Bluesky and Instagram: @goblinpuck. Order her debut collection via her website, sophiecrocker.com, or anywhere books are sold.